OLYMPIA — The state of Washington is suing a Vancouver charity, The Noble Foundation, and its founder, alleging Ophelia Noble and several others misused or failed to account for about $1 million donated to the organization and its sister charities.
Noble, of Longview, allegedly used funds belonging to the three charitable organizations to buy a house, a car, pay her living expenses and "fill her bank accounts," according to the lawsuit, filed in Clark County Superior Court on Monday.
Noble and her father, Douglas Noble, formed The Noble Foundation in 2012 initially to serve communities of color in Southwest Washington with an emphasis on financial literacy, according to the lawsuit.
Its funding "increased dramatically" starting in 2019, according to the state Attorney General's Office. The foundation has two sister organizations: Our Place Multicultural Center/Nuestra Casa Centromulti-cultural and Southwest Washington Communities United for Change.
Between 2019 and mid-2023, as the pandemic took hold and efforts to support racial justice work grew, the three charities were awarded at least $1.5 million in funding from private donors.
The Noble Foundation also got funding from several government agencies, including from the state Office of Financial Management, the state Department of Commerce and Clark County.
The Attorney General's Office said that most of the public funds the entities received appear to have been spent properly, but that grants from private and community foundations didn't face "the same level of fiscal controls."
In all, the state alleges Noble and the other defendants misappropriated or failed to account for at least $1.2 million.
The state is also suing the two other organizations; Noble's mother, Alice Prejean; and Noble's daughter, Alyce Noble; as well as Douglas Noble, Joann Hampton and Virginia Prioleau. All were either directors or officers of the charitable organizations, according to the Attorney General's Office.
None of the defendants could be reached for comment Tuesday.
"As the charities took in more funding, Noble and her friends and family misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars," the lawsuit states. "As a result, government and private donor funding that was intended to help BIPOC communities in southwest Washington went instead to Noble and her co-defendants," the lawsuit continues, referring to Black, Indigenous and people of color.
The Attorney General's Office is asking the court to order that Noble and the other co-defendants be barred from serving on the board of any Washington nonprofit, to return the money they allegedly diverted so that it can be properly donated, and to dissolve the foundation.
A phone number for The Noble Foundation listed on its website appears to have been disconnected, as well as a phone number for the Southwest Washington Communities United for Change. Our Place/Nuestra Casa did not immediately respond to an interview request.
An email to The Noble Foundation was returned as undeliverable. Multiple numbers for Ophelia Noble appear to have been disconnected.
The Attorney General's Office started investigating The Noble Foundation and Ophelia Noble in late 2020 based on a referral from the Oregon Department of Justice, said Brionna Aho, a spokesperson for the office.
In August 2021, the Attorney General's Office sought and got a court order requiring the foundation to register and maintain registry as a charitable organization and to provide certain financial records.
"At the time, we had suspicions of misuse of funds and required [The Noble Foundation] to provide some financial information," Aho said in an email. "That set off additional alarm bells, which resulted in a full-blown investigation."
